Thorondir,
"An adult who goes to be baptized into the body of Christ must certainly be asking Jesus into his heart."
NOT Necessarily.
And why may I ask...is your tone so Biting and Nasty to...Chewbacca?
Chewbacca is stating the Truth, one must be Born Again before Baptism....READ What Yeshua/Jesus The Messiah/Christ had to say about this issue in the Gospel According to John chapter 3.
Jesus is speaking directly to Nicodemus and to ALL of us as well!
So...before you go on the attack...be prepared with knowing the Truth.
And Please read for Yourself (the entire chapter) John chapter 3 before You answer me.
Thank You and GOD Bless.
The Catholic liturgy of baptism requires the adult baptizand to publicly renounce sin and profess his faith in Jesus Christ before witnesses, at least orally and sometimes in writing.
When people do that in an evangelical church, they call it "receiving Jesus into their heart" and show up here announcing that they are infallibly saved and ready to put those awful Catholics in their place.<humor>
When people do that in a Catholic church, it's greeted with all sorts of suspicion. The Bible doesn't say "If you confess Jesus with your mouth, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved, unless you say and believe those things in a Catholic Church, in which case it's just an empty ritual" ... does it?
When did the water part become unimportant and optional? We receive remission of our sins through the laver of regeneration,ie Baptism. It's not optional.